Street gangs are becoming popular in many cities across the country. According to the Department of Justice's 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, there are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members (Grabianowski). Gangs bring fear and violence to neighborhoods, drugging, destroying property, engaging youth in crime and driving out businesses. When there are gangs in a community, it affects everyone in the community. An alarming number of young adults join criminal gangs and become involved in illegal activities. Most gangs have a rule that when you join the gang you are a gang member for life. Gangs can be removed from our communities with greater community involvement and education. States like California and New York have a big problem with gangs. According to a study by Deirdre Anglin, assistant professor of emergency medicine at LAC+USC, gang-related homicides in Los Angeles County have increased dramatically over the past 16 years, reaching epidemic proportions especially among young African-American and Hispanic males. (Maceo par.1). When someone decides to join a gang, they should let current gang members know that they will be a part of it for life and that they will be dedicated to the gang, this can be demonstrated in a gang affiliation. The boys are usually forced to fight several gang members at once. This is called "roll-in" or "walking the line". Girls may be forced to have sex with different gang members or fight other women. For some gangs you have to beat someone up, rob a store or commit a shooting. This puts innocent citizens in danger. In Chicago, in 2012, more than 40 people were killed over Memorial Day weekend (Childress par.2). Re...... middle of paper ......ow Street Gangs Work" dated September 26, 2006. HowStuffWorks.com. November 02, 2012. Kelley, Don. "Street Gangs Began in Los Angeles." corrections.com where criminal justice never sleeps The Corrections Connection, 13 2010. Web. 2 November 2012). University of Southern California News. Retrieved from http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/1376. htmlDel Barco, m. (2008, March 10). //www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88045529An eHow contributor, Initials (2010) Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com /how_2090450_stop-gang-. violence.htmlNational Drug Intelligence Center, Initials (2009, July 1).